Mages, ten-man raiding, and other things that are awesome.

This was the first time I ever saw Algalon's room. I have taken so many screenshots of it, it may be my favourite place in the game, period.

On Friday night, I joined a few guildies in a pug 25M run that was meant to be an ICC 25 run but turned into an Ulduar 25 run. (It’s a long story that’s boring, trust me, and not really essential to the rest of this post). So we’re in Ulduar 25, ripping it up, despite tremendous amounts of general confusion. I don’t usually join these kinds of runs simply because my tolerance for pug shenanigans on a grand scale is fairly low and I’m wont to rage, but I’ve been feeling the achivement bug lately. For reasons that will become clear in a few lines, when I DO join these types of runs I don’t usually talk in Vent/Mumble. I just join, do my thing, and type in raid chat.

Because our raid leader was getting progressively distressed about the fact that someone had opened Algalon’s door, I felt compelled to speak up briefly in Mumble just to say, “The timer doesn’t start until you actually engage him for the first time, so we’re fine.” No problem, right? Well, I was reminded about why I don’t usually talk when immediately one of the rogues said in /say:

“OMG! WAS THAT A GIRL? :O :O”

Those of us in BT had fun mocking him in guild chat (“I hear those do exist in the wild,”) but of course I couldn’t resist and so I replied in say, “OMG WHERE!?”

So he whispers to me (because I’m the only one who deigned to reply to him) and says, “Was that you???”

I sit for thirty seconds or so, pondering possible answers. I could lie (just to get rid of him) and say that it wasn’t. I could say that it was and potentially risk whatever that will unleash. The important thing to me is – I honestly don’t care what he says or does, and I don’t want to pretend to be something I’m not. I don’t make a big deal of “being a woman” playing video games. I know so many bloggers, folks on the Twitter community, etc. that are amazing female gamers and it’s not even an issue to me. There are tons of us, aren’t there? But I suppose in some scenarios we’re still a bit rare, yet I won’t go out of my way to emphasize my womanliness, because just as it doesn’t matter whether the person at the other keyboard is a man or a woman, why would they care that I am?

Except sometimes they do. I reply to the rogue with a simple, “Yep.”

He came back with something I didn’t expect.

“I don’t mean to imply that girls can’t raid,” he says, “But how did you get into a heroic raiding guild?”

Whew. It’s a good thing he didn’t mean to imply that girls can’t raid or anything, because the way those two statements were linked I might have gotten the wrong idea there! Anyway, the implication to me, is pretty clear. How did you (a woman) get into such a guild (when everyone knows women can’t raid) when I (possessed of appropriate chromosomes and sex organs) have been unable to find and join such a guild?

Any number of snarky answers went through my head, but I decided to just keep it simple (and blow his mind at the same time).

“How did I get in?” I wrote back. “It’s my guild.”

“:O :O” (that’s the visual representation of someone’s mind being blown, swiftly followed by mine exploding in return as he wrote…) “Do you have any room?!”

Go ahead and guess my answer! (A polite “No,” actually. I try to keep it polite. Most of the time).

You might think I started this entry so I could write about sexism, stereotyping, and ill-mannered pugs, but truthfully I didn’t. I’m not upset about what the guy said, it’s just eyerolling (and I thought you’d find it funny). I’d actually like to write about what he said in a completely serious way. How did I get into a heroic raiding guild? Or on a related manner, how can anyone get into a heroic raiding guild if that’s their goal?

Voss and I actually started out on the Moon Guard server, because when we first started playing I was especially interested in the roleplaying aspect of the game. I’d taken part in text-based roleplaying previously, and the two of us had actually met on a roleplaying, private-run Shard of Ultima Online. I was interested. We played on MG for about a year and a half, and I still have really fond memories of that time. Our experience is in no way meant to illustrate RP servers in general, but towards the end of our time there we were having trouble with raiding. (That is to say, I’m not saying that folks on RP servers can’t or don’t raid, because obviously they do). But for us, we were stymied by schedules and timezones. Many of the raiders in the group we’d organized were in the UK, and could only raid on Saturday afternoons/evenings. One day a week was not a lot of raiding, and it was hard to always commit our Saturday to this. I’m sure it was tough for them too.

To make a long story short, we decided to move on and find a guild that could give us the kind of raiding we longed to see. We wanted to clear entire instances (at the time, we’d killed Hodir in Ulduar but couldn’t get any further without extending our lockout). We wanted to see what heroic modes were all about. We’d been raiding through Kara, ZA, and had cleared all of the Wrath content up until that point but not through Ulduar. ToC had been out for some time and we hadn’t set foot in it. I started browsing through the recruitment forums and I saw an ad for the guild Business Time. It was a ten-person guild (a requirement) that focused on strict ten, hard-mode progression. They were working on hardmode Ulduar (Firefighter!) They needed a mage. I should preface this by saying that I was raiding Ulduar as a resto druid and was fed up of healing. There wasn’t anyone in our raid group who was really interested in healing full-time, so every week we’d find a pug healer, with mixed results. Two-healing Ulduar was a challenge. Two-healing Ulduar with an unknown pug quantity was even more stressful. Without an actual healing “team” I felt very adrift and found raiding to be stressful. I was starting to have more migraines and regular headaches, and realized I’d gone through the better part of a bottle of Advil in a really short amount of time. This was the impetus that pushed us to consider finding another guild and transferring away from all we’d known up until that point. The schedule fit. The approach fit. The name was a Flight of the Conchords joke that cracked me up.

And Business Time needed a mage. I wanted to be a mage. I’d mostly raided in Wrath as a priest and then a druid because healers were always needed. So I applied to BT with my mage, and Voss applied as a fury warrior (because they didn’t need tanks).

I think, at present time, our app would have been a hard sell. Business Time was just getting into hard-modes, so they weren’t yet as stringent in their requirements. (The preceding link is actually an Officers’ Quarters column with a letter written by the former GL. I had read the letter at the time, and secretly wished I could be in a guild like that). I was under geared, and inexperienced with many of the fights they were working on. I was also really freaking out about leaving the server I had known for one and a half years, and moving to a completely unknown server type. But I really really wanted to be a mage again, and I really liked what I had seen of the guild. Heck, I’d read about the guild back in June and then completely forgot!

Business Time talks strategy before Anub'arak. I am too busy making faces and taking pictures in the smoke bombs.

Take full advantage of the point/emblem system to ensure that even if you aren’t raiding, your gear is the best it can possibly be.

Even though Millya hadn’t been my “main” raider, her gear was by no means bad. She had quite a bit of T9 stuff, if I remember correctly (it was purchasable with points from the vendor!) She also had such BoEs as I could find like a Darkmoon card, etc. I was definitely still undergeared compared to the majority of BT raiders, but that meant that once I started raiding it was easy to get gear because nobody needed it. The point wasn’t that you need the best gear to raid, it was that my character showed dedication. Before I applied, I went through my gear with a fine-tooth comb to put all the best gems and enchants on it that I possibly could. No stone was left unturned to ensure I was putting my best face forward. Your gear is the most immediate indicator of your commitment to your character and attention to detail. Don’t miss any enchants or enhancements! Go over and above what you think is “necessary,” because in most guilds the best is an expectation.

Don’t be afraid to leverage your personality.

Business Time took a chance when they recruited Voss and I. We were inexperienced, a bit undergeared, and had no logs to prove our chops. What we DID have was an application that I took great care in writing (and it was long). We each wrote separate portions of the application so they could get a sense of our personalities. And we really clicked in the interview. Despite some misgivings about class balance, only our grumbly shaman voted no to let us in (I like to bug him about this, the truth is I can’t blame him at all, though I’m glad nobody else agreed). They voted to let us in because they liked us. We promised we would research the fights and prove that we had what it took to succeed with a guild like theirs. They took a chance, but really it was fairly win/win on their side. If we hadn’t worked out, it’s our money on the line, and they could’ve just found some other folks. Personality and attitude is something that is magnified in such a small group – if you have exceptional players that are jerks, they’re never going to fit – unless your guild is predominantly a jerk atmosphere. Saying thank you, being friendly and engaged and being fun to talk to are huge points. I think this should go without saying, but don’t be late, either! We’ve had interviewees not even show up, which is pretty much an automatic disqualification unless you have a great, emergency-level reason like being attacked by a bear or a car breakdown.

Do the research to show you’re ready, especially if you’re facing fights you’ve never seen.

Voss likes to remind me that when we first joined BT, I had pages and pages of notes about every boss we were going to be facing. I watched the videos, I jotted quick notes on every salient point to make sure I’d know the mechanics. So it was that on our first night in BT, when I was pulled in to replace a DPS for hardmode Mimiron, I was ready. Sure, I was nervous, but like I said to Voss (cue Rocky music) “These bosses have no ‘normal’ mode. I am going to treat them as if this is just what they do.” And so I did, and it worked for me. Later when we went through and killed Mimiron on normal I was astonished at all the things he didn’t do. I was so used to his soul crushing hardmode version because I refused to even acknowledge that anything else existed.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions, as long as you’re still seeking answers on your own.

People always say “know your class” as if it’s that easy. What about players that genuinely want to do well but are pretty new? My best advice would be to read everything you can get your hands on. Read Elitist Jerks, read blogs written by people of your class, read threads on the official forums or MMO Champions. Read the class columns at WoW Insider. Talk to people who also play your class if things are unclear or you have further questions. You can’t help but improve in the face of that much information, and as you play more you will fine-tune what you need to know and do. There’s a wealth of available information and support out there for the taking. Take it! Be prepared to answer class specific questions such as “What would you do at xyz” time or “Why did you choose the spec you did?” (Hint: Don’t just say “It’s what EJ said to spec.”) Know why you are doing something and not just what to do. Players who can think on their own and contribute to strat in unorthodox ways are invaluable, and if you are a creative thinker that can really impress a prospective guild.

As proof of this, BT’s other mage was someone I met on Moonrunner who found OUR guild forums and registered there to talk about mages with me. He was in a more social guild at the time and struggling to make his guild care about hard modes. When that guild folded, it was a natural choice for me to talk to the theorycrafting mage who I knew would be a fabulous fit and had thus far only lacked the opportunity to do many hard modes, not the aptitude or the drive.

Be prepared for rejection.

If you’re trying to get into a heroic guild without ever having done heroic raiding before, you’re starting from a disadvantage. It’s not an insurmountable one, and the way recruitment is these days, it could possibly be no obstacle, but you may still be turned down. Don’t let it get you down. Guilds need the best fit for them just like you need the best guild, and if it’s not a good “match” it wouldn’t end well in any case. If you are really impressed with a guild but your application is rejected, you could also see about joining as a social member with intent to raid. Participation in alt runs and 5-mans with the members of the guild could make you an easy choice the next time they have a spot on the roster. Alternatively, seek out another guild. Maybe you were overreaching. I know I used to shake my head regularly over ads that said, “Must be 8/13 heroic or better,” when the player themselves hadn’t done any hard modes at all! Don’t set your expectations of a guild too high. There are many reasons why progression in a tier could be slower (and needing to recruit heavily is definitely one of them). If you join a guild that’s seeking to progress, you could find a great home in that 2/7 heroic guild rather than the 6/7. The distinction is pretty fine, and having you on the team could mean that next tier things progress even better!

I don't wear this title any more, but when we earned it ranks among my top three best WoW moments ever. It was such a struggle to get there, and yes, we did it in tens gear!

It should go without saying that my final advice to anyone seeking to get into heroic raiding is: Don’t whisper the GL and act astonished that she’s able to use her keyboard to kill heroic dragons, because if you do that, you can do all of the other things above and they won’t get you anywhere. Alternately, as a sub-tip to the above, you COULD also marry a mage and then join a guild that really needs a mage and will take you even though they didn’t want a warrior at all. Just ask Voss! We actually just passed our two year anniversary of being in Business Time (October 12th!) and it’s been awesome. I hope it goes without saying that the subtext of this article is tips to help you if you WANT to be in a heroic raiding guild. If you don’t, these tips could be applied to any guild, or applied to “getting into raiding” in general. I don’t think there’s anything in there that won’t serve you well no matter what your aspirations might be!

Feel free to add your own tips, experiences or questions in the comments! After all, this is just based on my story, yours may be completely different.

Your story is shockingly similar to my own. I really enjoyed reading this post.

If I had to give advice to someone looking for a guild, I’d say:

Figure out what you want, and don’t accept less. If you want to be clearing instances, don’t join the guild that’s finished half way for the last 3 tiers. If you only want to raid twice a week, cross off guilds that raid more than that.

If you don’t have the right experience, make it clear that you have what it takes to learn.
Don’t sell yourself short.

Find a guild that will make you happy. If the front page posts are crude, crass, offensive, misogynistic, and you’re not comfortable with that environment, cross it off your list. Talk with some people to get an idea of who they actually are, not just what their accomplishments are. Interviews aren’t just trying to prove yourself to them, but also your chance to learn about who they are.

Find out what type of raid leader/officers you will be dealing with. When I was in charge of recruitment for a previous guild, it seemed like half of the people I accepted had recently xferred somewhere else, only to find out that the leadership wasn’t to their taste. If you’re not ready to handle yelling, screaming, and insults, don’t join a guild where that’s going to be your day to day. If you want people to be held accountable, look for someone who isn’t going to lead passively.

I recommend that people talk to other people on the server outside of the guild you’re interested in, to see what the outside view is of their guild. Take things with a grain of salt, but if everyone thinks they’re elitist assholes, it may not be sunshine and rainbows for you.

It has never been a better time to look for a guild than it is now. Almost everyone is recruiting, and many people would love to have you. Don’t settle for something you won’t be happy with.

That’s interesting, Pliers! I’d love to hear your story sometime (although I suppose if it’s similar, I already “know” it but so what). This is all really excellent advice. That’s something we actually say explicitly in interviews – we don’t yell. At anyone, ever. I would quit a guild so fast as soon as anyone yelled at me.

I don’t really have the ability to be brief when it comes to telling stories, but there were a ton of simularities with your guild search and mine. Pretty much every step of your story matched up with mine. I was undergeared, missing experience, swapping roles (tank to dps), and would be leaving the guild/server I had been on for most of my wow history. I found a guild with good people that was where I wanted to be and applied. We took a chance on each other, and it has worked out amazingly well.

I laughed when you told the story about the rogue in Ulduar, but I was laughing at the rogue more than the story. It’s funny that people still think in those terms. The sad part of the mentality you talk about is that some people accept it as truth, including aspiring female raiders.

Back in BWL, I was an officer in my guild, the most progressed on the server, and covered most of the responsibilities that a GM normally would. I remember having a few pugs in one of our raids, and we had a good raid night. One of the pugs had done an exceptionally good job healing, and I approached him to see if he would be interesting in joining us. The healer thought I was mocking them by asking if they wanted to join us, since it had been their first raid. In the process, I found out that he was a she, and she assumed that telling me so was going to automatically make me change my mind, because “girls can’t raid” or something like that. We kept talking, she realized I had been serious, and was one of our best healers. Later on, she decided she preferred dpsing to healing, and did a great job at that too.

Excellent article! And yes… we do exist. My one additional suggestion is “interview” the guilds you are apping to as much as they interview you. Ask about anything and everything you like and dislike about guilds and make sure they are the right fit.

Thanks for the comment! That’s a great point too. I love when an applicant has lots of questions for us about different things. It shows that they are thinking about stuff and they actually care. That caring suggests a good applicant!

I wonder what it is with rogues! I was hosting drunk T11 one night on Drenden, raid leading/tanking and yammering in vent and the rogue in the party sent a message to one of the other guildies and said “Is Raz a chick or a really young guy?” I’m not sure what was said back to them, and it never went into raid chat.

And my first reaction when it was shared in gchat (lol, rogue just asked if Raz was a chick) was to facepalm. Because my first thought was “why does it matter?’ Are you getting through ALL of T11 tonight with me? Does it matter if I’m a chick or a dude?

I admit that it seems that I set myself up for it (playing a male character as a female seems weird to some people, but I know a lot of chicks who do it? And how is it different than a guy playing a female character?)–as most people don’t expect to discover something like this in their pug. But still…

I don’t get why people are SHOCKED that women can be good gamers!

Your commentary on finding a good home in a heroic raiding guild is spot on! As always Vid, you are super succinct and always full of good points :)

Ugh. I’ve actually had that same thing, only it was a guy in a pug who asked ME if I was a girl or a young guy because he “couldn’t figure it out from my voice.” Now granted, I have a deeper voice for a woman I guess, but it was just so facepalm-ey, unnecessary, and then made me self-conscious about speaking on Mumble thereafter. (I’m over it though, you can ask my guild, they can’t shut me up). I think if it’s normal that men play female characters, why can’t women play male? I always play female myself, but that’s a personal preference thing! I don’t understand the shock either, and I just roll my eyes and go back to killing internet dragons. :D

According to Voss we sorta sound alike? I think he mentioned that to me after the podcast…

After it was commented about in gchat, I cringed and was thinking “what, do I need to talk about girly things or something to be considered a girl?” I mean, I’m pretty…well…me in vent/Mumble. I will say things that will make people go O.O and I will be O.O at what people sometimes say. I’ve always been “one of the guys” …so I guess probably most of my discussion topics while in a Pug are slightly…different than what most people are used to from some unknown chick they don’t know.

I was listening to the Blood Legion live stream during Blizzcon – and beyond all the gaybashing and profanity, I actually heard a girl speak up…and I was thinking “did i just hear a girl’s voice? how did she get into BL?”

I was once on a DK of mine that happened to be female when someone asked me if I where really a girl to which I replied, should it matter? They said, no. That was the end of the conversation.

I’ve never been in a heroic raiding guild and do not think I ever will be. While I do have the skills to get into one as it seems from the number of offers I get from the top guilds on my server, even to join their guild runs as the lone pug, I just don’t like the people in them much from my experience.

In my experience raiding some heroic content with them they all seem to be people I would not socialize with normally. I do not like the way they talked to each other and even more so, to and about, anyone that wasn’t them.

I am sure this is not representative of all heroic raiding guilds but the limited experience I have seen on my server (and listening to BL at the blizzcon) would keep me from ever trying to get into one. If I have to choose people playing with decent people or end game progression there is no choice, I would rather raid with decent people.

Your story does show that not all heroic guilds are like that. I am glad to read that and thanks for the advice you listed, it is sound advice.

I think it’s a common perception (and not necessarily an inaccurate one, either). I’ve had feedback from members joining who related that they didn’t know a guild could be both good AND with nice people. That’s what we strive for, the whole package. So if you’re a good (jerk), you aren’t getting in. Unfortunately, sometimes that means you can be really nice but not skilled enough and will not get in, either. That is the hardest for me because I really love getting to know the people in the guild and like them all.

All that is not an attempt to convince you at all, though. Nobody knows as well as you do what guild environment is best for you! I don’t espouse heroic guilds as the ‘be-all end-all’ either, because the time commitment, atmosphere and goals just aren’t for everyone. Some days I’d love to be in an RP guild just taking it easy, too. Any guild that has the people you enjoy being around and is doing the in-game activities you enjoy is a good guild! I can’t abide yelling or jerks, so that doesn’t happen for us, but I’m sure in some guilds it’s de rigeur.

One tip that I’ve seen mentioned in the past is to ask to listen in to a raid on Vent or Mumble before you join the guild. It’s a great opportunity to see if the leadership style and guild culture suit you, especially when you’re considering a server or faction transfer.

[…] Vidyala of Manalicious has drawn upon her experience of both applying to and running top guilds to compile a guide to getting into the Heroic raid guild of your dreams –“If you’re trying to get into a heroic guild without ever having done heroic raiding before, […]

I’ve taken to rolling male toons and rarely talking in vent/mumble in non-guild activities. It still amazes me at how annoying and OMGAGIRLLETSASKTOSEEHERBOOBS or “make me a sammich” some guys get. Often times, I find that some younger female players enjoy the attention though, which is a whole ‘nother topic in itself and makes my head explode.

You could also add that people should ask what happens once they actually get in. I’ve heard stories of people joining guilds expecting to get a permanent raid spot right away and being told, “Oh, you’re just back up right now.” Make sure people are on the same page and be clear about expectations of what both parties get in the trade off.

I have experienced this situation before. I joined a guild who were doing hardmodes and ended up being put in an alt raid, because there were already a resto druid in the main raid group. I did not know this, and were a little put off about it because I did several trial runs with them and were told that I would be raiding with the main group. I decided to turn lemons into lemonade by telling the raid leader that I didn’t quit my old raid group to be put in an alt raid group. I wanted more and I made it clear that I would be pugging myself if I wasn’t downing bosses in the alt raid. My druid was my main, and she deserved to be in a main hard mode group!

As luck would have it, the resto druid ended up quitting the game entirely and I have since been their main resto druid healer. I took the time to get to know people and I really love my guild (the old guild within my current guild… *winks*). It worked out for me in the end, I found a great guild, great group of people to hang out with and raid with.

This could have gone south, on the flip side though. All easily avoided by clearly laying out terms at first and then, following through on both sides. If it doesn’t work out, it’s more likely to be more amicable.

I know the point of this was not to highlight sexism in WoW, and the rest of the article was a thoroughly enjoyable read with really salient advice about how to apply to a dedicated hardmode progression guild, but by God I still can’t get over the opening paragraphs.

I’m befuddled by the idea of anyone else being befuddled by the idea that a girl gamer would be befuddled by hardcore raiding. If that sentence doesn’t equally befuddle you, you’re doing better than I :P

Anecdotal evidence suggest these antiquated attitudes largely (but not exclusively I’m sure) expressed on North American servers, and I’ve certainly not seen the same thing on the EU servers. Maybe I’m just fortunate and/or oblivious to it but really I would have expected a lot more from gamers in all walks of life by now.

Anyway I digress as I’m distracting from the primary point of your post which was absolutely wonderful XD

I’m befuddled by the idea of anyone else being befuddled by the idea that a girl gamer would be befuddled by hardcore raiding. If that sentence doesn’t equally befuddle you, you’re doing better than I :P

Oh yeah. This attitude found here and there on the servers drives me bananas, and when you combine this with the “girls/women don’t need help any more in the workplace because things are all equal now”, it’s just…. Gah.

Love this entry! I’ve worked hard to become an above-average player, and I’ve gotten plenty of “Oh my God, you’re a girl?! But … you’re GOOD!” responses from people, but it doesn’t make finding the right hardmode guild any easier. I’ve discovered two types of hardmode guilds that are pretty dominant in the recruitment market: 1) the guild that’s going to enjoy objectifying you and telling you that you’re the resident sammich maker, and 2) the guild that already has its token female who is going to defend her turf and make you regret ever applying.

And then you have that ultra rare third type that is hardmode and completely cool with female players; I’ve yet to find one that meets my schedule. But I am ever hopeful as I continue my guild search!

[…] need to be doing yet more reading? Cursory research can help you avoid awkward social pitfalls like applying for a hardmode guild run by a woman when you labor under the misapprehension that Girls Can…, which never ends well for […]

Oh, I’ve been the subject of “OMG was that a girl?” in raid chat before. Both times I’ve led ICC 10, no one believes that a girl is leading and actually getting things right until we don’t wipe and everyone is in the right places with the right information. It’s even more clear when I’m tanking. Seriously, there are plenty of very hardcore female raiders and raid leaders. We’re just as good as the guys.

And thanks for the tips on joining a progression raiding guild. Something I’ll be looking for when I have a bit more time.

When I played back in vanilla, i was a terrible player. I can remember doing a Strath pug and some guy actually laughed at my gear. I told him “if I wanted to wear better gear I could! I happen to like this outfit!”, and I meant it.
I can also remember a Scholo run where a guy asked me why my dps was so bad. I replied that since we weren’t having any trouble killing things, I didn’t see why I had to be doing more damage, but I could do more if he wanted!

I guess my attitude changed in BC when our guild started raiding. We ran into the brick wall of Lady Vashj, and really struggled to beat her, As I was kiting Striders, I felt the responsibility to not be the person who wiped the raid, so I actually started looking up strats for kiting on the internet, something I had never done before. I think that was when I really started to improve my gameplay.

In Wrath, I decided that I just wasn’t good enough at dpsing, and switched to healing, I liked it and was actually quite good at it. At about the same time, our raids were not progressing. Our 25 mans were bogged down in Ulduar, and I found it quite frustrating. it was then that one of the guys asked for people interested in doing 10 man Ulduar hardmodes. We ran these maybe one day a week, and we ended up progressing a lot better than our 3 nights a week 25 man raids. We completed One Light in the Darkness, Firefighter, and others, and by ICC we were doing hardmodes as a matter of course.

Now we are 3/7 heroic in Firelands, and would have even more bosses down if we could get together a bit more without real life getting in the way.

Guess what? Three of us are female. Not only are we just as good as the men in the group (if not better in some cases!) but I think our willingness to discuss things a lot more than the men do (both during the raids and on our forums) is a big benefit to our progress. Anyone who thinks women can’t raid at a decent standardl really has no clue.

I do think the gender of the player matters, but for different reasons.

For example my girlfriend always starts correcting people when they come along the lines of “[charname]…, he will have to […]” to “she” – and in nearly 6 years I’ve yet to experience any implications like “A girl raiding! Unpossible!*”. This is a European server though ;)

You could argue that people shouldn’t directly jump to the conclusion of a male player, but I’d guess on our server the ratio is more 5:1 than 3:1, and still I don’t think I’ve ever been in a guild without women.

rofl great post…”make me a sammich”…Reminds me of one of my wow friends who hasn’t been on in a while. In the middle of a dungeon he asked me to make him some tea. I told him I’ll pee in a cup and he can call it whatever he wants.